The primary goal of the Fourth International Conference on Birth Defects is to provide specific practical tools and approaches that developing country participants can use to implement new health care services and strengthen the existing ones. Examples of what works in some countries and prospective efforts to translate such successful methods will be emphasized. Participants will include health care providers, experts in data collection and monitoring, researchers, parent-patient organizations, and youth volunteers from both the developing and industrialized world. The theme of the conference is "Implementing High-quality, Cost-effective Services for the Care, Prevention, and Research of Birth Defects and Disabilities in the Developing World." PROJECT RELEVANCE: This conference will provide guidance for the health care efforts of the low resource countries in methods of appropriate and feasible service to those with birth defects and consequent disabilities. A modular system from an irreducible minimum of services to a full system of care and rehabilitation will be outlined. Moreover, parallel guidance with respect to prematurity consequent upon preterm birth will be addressed.